Monday, 23 September 2013

Weekly Rituals

I was watching the Jack Nicholson movie 'As Good As it Gets' on Friday night - you know that movie where he plays a character that has a serious case of OCD?

I was actually freaking myself out a bit as deep down I worry that some of those traits are a little too familiar... little rituals that I do each week, each day even, out of .... I don't know, habit? Compulsion?

Whatever the reason is, it's just a pity I am not a bit more OCD when it comes to doing the laundry.

I don't for a minute think that ALL rituals are a symptom of OCD.

Some of my weekly rituals do nothing more than act as reminder to myself to appreciate and enjoy the simple pleasures, little things that are so easy to forget when you are immersed in the busyness that is life.

The act of doing these things makes me more present in the moment and their faniliarity brings me a strange kind of comfort.

I have told you before about some of my rituals - like my Friday ritual of putting fresh flowers around the house.

The morning ritual where I lie in my bed and stare out of the window while I drink the coffee that my husband quietly places on the bedside table every morning before he attempts to wake me (bless him).

There is my evening ritual of lighting a scented candle before we sit down to dinner. It marks the end of the day, the end of the crazyness and time to begin to wind down.

My magazine ritual where I can't / won't sit down to read my new magazine until the housework has been done and I have a hot cuppa or a cocktail in hand. I may also threaten to cut the fingers off anyone that dares to disturb my ritual by turning even a single crisp page of that magazine before I get to.

There is my ritual with the kids where we Rainbow Connect our hearts every time we say goodbye to each other for the day and we even have a hand signal where we can do it without anyone even knowing what we are doing.

And let's not forget my evening Vodka Lime and Soda ritual which really has no purpose other than a ritualistic way of paying homage to my love of Vodka Lime and Soda.

These are all little things that to anyone else may seem silly or strange, but to me, they mean so much more.

More recently I have introduced a new ritual - one that involves making sure I get myself out of the house and changing my usual environment, which is particularly therapeutic on those weeks where the work is piling up, routines are threatening to take over and life just gets a little too busy to be enjoyable for anyone.

At least once a week now, I make sure that I get out of the house and work somewhere other than my office for a few hours. I try to coincide it with a meet up with some friends, or even a business meeting because it means I am less likely to try and make an excuse to NOT go which I have a habit of doing when I get busy.

But when whoever I am with leaves, it becomes my time and I pull out my computer and work or just write.

I don't know if it is because I am in new surrounds or because I still get that awesome buzz like I am wagging by not being in the office. Whatever it is, when I am somewhere different, I feel free and less stressed and it makes me feel good. Really good.